Syracuse, NY - A Tully woman pleaded guilty today in connection with a November crash on Interstate 81 that killed a passenger from the vehicle she was driving.

Katharine Webb, 22, of 443 Otisco Road, pleaded guilty before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti to felony, criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jerry S. Brown.

Brown, 29, of 57 Warren St., Tully, was ejected from the SUV when it struck a guardrail and overturned on the highway in Tully about 2:15 a.m. Nov. 5.

Webb is to be sentenced July 20 to five years' probation and 300 hours of community service. Brunetti agreed to that after being told the victim's family was satisfied with the resolution.

Webb originally was charged with a more serious count of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, but Senior Assistant District Attorney Chris Bednarski said the evidence did not conclusively show that Webb was driving drunk at the time.

Her blood-alcohol count was 0.08, right at the limit for being charged with drunken driving, the prosecutor said. There also was no evidence from any witnesses that Webb appeared intoxicated before the crash, Bednarski said.

According to the prosecutor, Webb was coming from a party in Tully and was heading to a bonfire when the fatal crash occurred. Authorities said Brown was one of three passengers in the 1997 Toyota 4Runner with Webb when the crash occurred.

According to witness statements, the group had been celebrating one of the passenger's birthdays at the Hill N Dale Country Club. Webb was driving the birthday celebrant's vehicle.

According to one of the witness statements, Webb had been being teased for not drinking as she claimed to have been the designated driver for the group that night.

Bednarski said his office did not push for a jail sentence given the apparent weakness in trying to prove Webb was driving drunk at the time.

He said Brown's family had just wanted to have Webb accept responsibility for what happened and for causing the victim's death.

"That was the most important thing they needed to hear," the prosecutor said.